Pickett’s Division, packed closely and rapidly losing the firm order it once possessed, continued advancing up the final slope toward the crest of Cemetery Ridge. The threat posed by the Vermont infantry against Kemper’s right flank forced the Virginian to wheel the 24th Virginia and part of the 11th Virginia to it. When the 3rd Virginia’s Col. Joseph Mayo learned of the threat, he moved some of his men to the right. Stannard’s men refused to give ground. The “gray uniforms,” wrote a Vermonter, “fall quick and fast and the front line hesitated, moved slowly and melted away.”22 Many of Kemper’s men continued on, halting at a rough patch of ground in front of the Union position, where they opened a murderous fire on the defenders.
Some Federal commanders moved their units to meet the focal point of the attack. The 72nd Pennsylvania moved by the right flank, sliding northward to reach the northeast angle of the stone fence; the 19th Massachusetts and 42nd New York moved closer to the first line. Infantry manned at least one of Capt. James Rorty’s remaining two guns, firing from near the stone wall south of the Copse of Trees. On Rorty’s right, Cowan’s fresh battery fired into the mass of Confederates surging toward the crest.23
After firing a few volleys from the broken ground, some of Kemper’s men jumped up, issued a Rebel yell, and charged the wall. According to a soldier in the 7th Virginia the Federal troops “poured a murderous volley right into their faces. A moment the line halted and staggered as so many men went down, but … the whole line bent forward, gave the southern yell, charged and went over the stone wall.”24
On Kemper’s left, Richard Garnett’s massed ranks also closed on the stone wall protecting the 69th and 71st Pennsylvania. A mortally wounded Lt. Cushing continued working his advanced guns, double-shotting them with canister. The giant shotgun-like discharge into the packed Virginians cleared a 50-foot wide swath in the human wave. Out of ammunition, Cushing’s guns fell mute. The 28th, 56th, and part of the 19th Virginia, along with the right elements of Fry’s Brigade (Pettigrew’s Division), struck the 71st Pennsylvania and the gap on its left. One of its companies broke for the rear as the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat on both sides of the wall. Seven other companies fell back to join the remaining pair behind them. The tip of Garnett’s mass had reached the Federal line. When its members looked east up the ridge and saw the 72nd Pennsylvania in line of battle, they waited for Armistead to forge ahead with them. The fire of the newly-arrived Pennsylvania troops felled scores of Garnett’s men. Somewhere in the chaos, smoke, and bloodshed, an enemy round found the mounted Garnett. (He was eventually buried in an unmarked grave.) General Webb sensed the vulnerability of the enemy and ordered the 72nd Pennsylvania to charge; the men refused.25
When he saw Garnett’s men thronging along the wall, Armistead shepherded his brigade in that direction. The shift moved his Virginians parallel along the line held by the 69th Pennsylvania, which poured a killing fire into their packed ranks. At that range it was hard to miss, but many joined up with Garnett’s soldiers. Fighting in front of the clump of trees, the 69th continued holding its position even though the pressure against it was nearly overwhelming.26
Farther to the north, some 1,000 men from Pettigrew’s remaining brigades approached the ridge above the Angle. The defenders had waited until they reached the road (175 yards from the wall) before opening fire. According to Federal accounts, most of Pettigrew’s men fell back before reaching the wall. Some in Marshall’s command came within forty yards of it before being driven back. A few sprinted ahead but were shot down or captured. The enemy, said Colonel Smyth, “fought with a fierce determination that he had never seen equaled.” On Pettigrew’s left, Mississippians from Davis’ Brigade advanced to the Bryan barn before being shot down, driven back, or captured.
The last of the infantry from the left wing of the attacking column, Isaac Trimble’s demidivision consisting of Col. William Lowrance’s and Brig. Gen. James Lanes’ brigades, were now crossing Emmitsburg Road in support of a charge teetering on the brink of failure.27